Van Morrison and Robin Swann, the former health minister in Northern Ireland, have settled their libel battle. The dispute arose from disagreements over Covid-19 safety precautions, including an opinion piece Swann published in The New York Times. Rolling Stone Criticizes Morrison's views on coronavirus and lockdown measures.
As the BBC reported, the settlement was announced at the High Court in Belfast on Friday, September 6, just weeks before the start of the trial of competing libel claims between Morrison and Swan. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, and neither Morrison nor Swan were in court for the hearing.
During the hearing, Swann's lawyer – who is now the MP for South Antrim – read out a statement agreed by both parties.
“While Sir Van disagreed with a number of the steps taken by the Government during the Covid crisis, he acknowledges that Mr Swann acted at all times honestly, in good faith and on the advice of officials in his role as Minister for Health in Northern Ireland,” the statement said. “While Mr Swann disagreed with Sir Van’s views on the handling of the pandemic, he acknowledges that those views were genuine and were expressed in the context of Sir Van being prevented by government regulations from performing a role for which he is well known.”
The judge congratulated the two parties on reaching a settlement, calling it a “very fair outcome” and saying it was “in everyone's best interest.”
Representatives for Morrison and Swan did not immediately return. Rolling StoneRequest comment.
In 2020, Morrison emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the COVID-19 lockdowns and their impact on the live entertainment industry. Launching a campaign to “Save Live Music”, Morrison criticised what he called the “pseudoscience” surrounding the coronavirus; and released three songs – “No More Lockdown”, “Born to Be Free” and “As I Walked Out” – which he said were “about freedom of choice”.
In response to these measures, Swann, who was then Northern Ireland’s health minister, wrote an opinion piece in Rolling Stone expressing his “disappointment” in Morrison. “Some of what he says is actually dangerous,” Swann wrote. “It may encourage people not to take coronavirus seriously. And if you see it all as a big conspiracy, you’re less likely to follow the vital public health advice that keeps you and others safe.”
The feud continued into 2021, reaching a boiling point in June ahead of Morrison's scheduled concert at Belfast's Europa Hotel. The concert was cancelled due to pandemic restrictions just before it was due to start, prompting Morrison to take the stage and criticise Swann in front of the crowd, calling him “very dangerous”.
This – along with similar comments Morrison made in a YouTube video and a newspaper interview – prompted Swan to sue the musician for defamation. Morrison eventually filed his own lawsuit against Swan and the Department of Health over Rolling Stone (With the legal battle dragging on into 2022, Morrison appeared to take a jab at Swann in a new song called “Dangerous,” which included the lyrics: “Somebody said I was dangerous/I said something bad, it must have been good.”)
The settlement statement read in court on Friday also came with an acknowledgement from the Department of Health that in light of the above, “any views they may have wished to express about Sir Van’s lyrics would perhaps have been better expressed in the usual form of media interviews or statements to the media in Northern Ireland, rather than in a copy to an American rock magazine.”
